IBM Global Services (IGSI)

IBM Global Services,India (IGSI) is one of IBM's many IT Parks all over the world. TATA IBM and IGSI are two separate companies. IGSI is a purely IT company, both H/W and S/W development. IBM is a company which believes in Customer Satisfaction and providing complete solutions. I am currently in the OS/2 - Base PMWIN Division of IBM. OS/2 is IBM's long established Operating System with customers mainly from Europe, Australia and to some extent from America. I am currently fixing customer reported bugs. I am working with hardcore OS/2 code written in C/C++/Assembly and code very similar to Windows SDK. It is hard work because you have to go through 1000's of lines of code (with sometimes customer pressure as you are directly interacting with them). Guys from CSE can usually handle these problems within the stipulated deadline.

Job sounds quite disappointing right, because you have to understand OS/2 Design Concepts (this is practical stuff guys not purely theoritical) but you don't get to be part of the OS/2 Design Team which is in IBM Austin until you have proven your worth. (OS/2 Design Team consists of PhDs from top US Universities like MIT/Stanford etc , hehehehe). At the OS/2 group party exceptional people are given Certificates with cash awards upto $2500 by the OS/2 Division Head from States. Pretty stingy I guess. But convert it to rupees - 1 Lakh!!!!!.

Here are my Pay Details :-

HEAD

EARNINGS

DEDUCTIONS

BASIC

5300

FLAT ALLOWANCE

2700

HOUSE RENT ALLOWANCE

2650

CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE

800

INCOME TAX

0

PT

100

FOOD COUPONS

228

PF

636

TOTAL

11450

964

NET PAY

10486

Due for a revision I guess.

IGSI does not require employees to sign a Work Bond.

IBM is a company working with various languages and platforms. Purely depends on customer requirements.

Projects on OS/2, Win NT, IBM-AIX, Win 95, DB-2, Lotus Notes are common.

Hey guys if selected you have to undergo 3 months training, which is real good fun. At the end of your training program you are alloted projects depending on your performance in Engg and to some degree in the training program. Training is of two phases - Technical / Non-Technical.

Non-Technical : Communication and Presentation Skills. Customer Interaction

Methods. Quality Management etc etc.....

Technical : C++. Java. DB-2. Object Oriented Analysis and Design. MFC and Windows Programming.

This is all part of the ELTP-Entry Level Training Program. IBM has year round training programs as part of the "Skill Development Plan." (4-5 days monthly, if you want to). You can chose any of the programs offered. I have chosen the "TCP/IP on Win NT 4.0" for April. Any of you guys with GRE/TOEFL in mind and plan to take it after Engineering your training period (2-3 months) at IBM is the only and right time. If any of you plan to get into Research Marketing and want to get to the States right after ELTP, S/390 is the only group you can join as choice (limited no. and Work Bond). Research Marketing related to Marketing Strategies and a little Technical stuff. If you chose this line you will be sent to Atlanta for 6 months training and maybe get to work in IBM US if they are impressed. A fellow ELTP (MCA from BMS) chose this line. If you are interested in H/W (VLSI , Microcoding / Device Drivers) you have to be very very good. Guys in this group are all toppers in Electronics/Computers M.Tech and B.Tech from IIT/REC's . A friend from KREC B.Tech Electronics in another ELTP Batch got selected to this group. Higher pay and H/W Engineer Designation. Design and Development in Java/VB/VC++ needs people with 2 years work experience from IBMers and project specific experience from outsiders.

Environment is relaxing for about 2 months at the begining of the Project Year (Design and Approval), once into the groove things get hectic. You can tell your Mom you will be home at 8:00 PM and have to leave by 9:00 AM next morning when deadlines are fast approaching (sometimes worse especially if your customer is in a crazy time zone. I haven't had any such problems until date). Year round projects like mine, work load can vary from really heavy to "jobless". Variable pay depends not only on performance but also completion within deadlines.

Other CSE 98 IBMers are Aravindan - Data Link File Systems( AIX / XWindows) , Ambika Charan - OS/2 LAN Support , Kamal Narayan - OS/2 Base Print Division , Shreyas T S - AIX.

 
Jayanth Mahalingam
Software Engineer OS/2 Lab
IBM Global Services India Pvt Ltd
Airport Road
Bangalore-560017
Phone :5262355 Extn:3554/3510
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